Cars

China's Geely H2 net down 4%, misses target

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-03-23 14:42

HONG KONG - China's Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd said on Wednesday that net profit fell 4 percent in the second half of 2010 despite record six-month sales volume.

Geely, whose parent bought Ford Motor Co's Volvo Car unit last year, posted a July-December net profit of 563.6 million yuan ($85.9 million), compared with 587 million yuan a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations based on a company statement.

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Analysts had expected a second-half profit of 764.4 million yuan, based on the mean of 19 forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters.

For the year, Geely posted its best net profit of 1.37 billion yuan, up from 1.18 billion yuan in 2009.

China, the world's biggest auto market, has been a major bright spot amid a global industry downturn thanks to Beijing's economic stimulus measures in 2009. But sales growth in China is expected to slow after tax incentives for small cars ended and Beijing takes measures to tackle traffic congestion in the capital.

Geely shares eased 0.94 percent on Wednesday ahead of the results and have fallen 7.4 percent so far this year, lagging a near 1 percent drop in the Hang Seng Index .